Nothing's Perfect
by Winter Wisp
Summary: In a perfect world, where tailed beast never existed, Naruto Namikaze becomes a genin of the leaf. But as border tensions rise, and things begin to fall apart, Konoha comes to the brink of war. Can Naruto keep all the pieces together? What about his teammates? Meanwhile, Minato unravels the hidden secrets of the Namikaze clan. It is the law of the world that nothing is perfect. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. That was pretty much given since this is a fanfiction.

**Forward**: So I had this idea for a story, and we'll see how it goes. Please see my profile in the section under Nothing's Perfect for an extended summary and some details for the alternate universe. Oh, and don't forget to leave a review if you can. If you find errors of any type, or have a suggestion, leave a review or PM me, either works. Alas, here we go.

**Chapter 1: Enter the Namikaze**

Naruto sighed as he sat in the back of his academy class room. In front of him were the scores of students that were academy hopefuls for this year. Naruto could already tell that a good number would not pass today, but there were certainly many that would. Iruka was currently in the middle of a long speech. Iruka was a great teacher and all, but sometimes had a tendency to forget himself during his epic speeches. He was going on about how important shinobi were to society and how they were taking their first steps on the long road to be great ninjas. Most of the class, however, was zoning out.

Naruto thought that most things that were taught in the academy were extremely important, but they were definitely delivered incorrectly with emphasis on the wrong things. For example, recent history lessons. It was important to know information about the last war that had passed, since many foreign ninja still held grudges from the war, and this would make them almost immediately hostile. It also explained the high border tension that was present right now. But instead of emphasizing this, the academy tried to stuff in pointless dates and figures into their head. In stead of looking at the formations used in small unit tactics, they simply looked at the overviews of the battles that were fought and moved on.

Naruto did agree with Iruka on one thing he was talking about right now though. This class definitely destined for some great feats. There was a lot of talent in this room, and Naruto thought they would all go far. The ones that would pass anyways. Iruka seemed as he finally got the idea that it was time to end his speech and actually start the final exam. One by one names were called to the front and led into a separate room perform a basic academy clone.

Naruto, of course, passed. But not as easily as everyone else in the class. Naruto had to work tirelessly to manage his large chakra reserves that were characteristic of the Uzumaki. But he did it. After the long day, everybody rushed out of the class room to the large mob of parents there to greet their children. Naruto smiled as he watched some fathers high-fiving their children and their mothers hug them.

It was a hot day, but the air held a certain gloom. Typical June weather. It wasn't very characteristic of the occasion. The sun beams were beating down on everyone through the haze in the sky, as they made their way to whatever shade they could find. The front of the academy building was a large open space, meant for meetings and reunions, however, right now it was empty as everyone was gathering either under the trees near the playground, or against some of the nearby buildings which offered shade.

Naruto looked around for his family. He found his mom waving at him from a bit away next to the swing set. Smiling, Naruto made his way over. His mother was Uzumaki Kushina, or now Namikaze Kushina. Her red hair and her loud mouth definitely made her stand out from the crowd. She was a great ninja in her own right, but she was on minimal duty right now, and had been since Naruto was born. She was considering entering the field again, since Naruto was now older and could care for himself, but Minato, Naruto's father and the hokage, was telling her to wait a little while longer.

"You did it Naruto! I'm so proud of you!" said Kushina.

Naruto grinned. He was happy his mom came out for him. It would have been nice if his dad could also make it, but he was hokage, and was bound to be busy. Naruto didn't let him bother him too much. In general, Naruto found it pointless to concern himself over things that he could not change. He was always going to be compared to his father, so why let it bother him? Instead, Naruto made his own path, and became a ninja that was more than simply the son of the hokage.

"Hey, Naruto!" yelled a voice from behind him.

Naruto turned around and saw Sasuke running towards him to give him a high-five. Naruto grinned. He saw Sasuke's mom, Mikoto, also walking over. She began to talk to Kushina fervently. The two were good friends, and had been for a while. As the two chatted, Naruto went to talk to Sasuke.

"So? How'd you do?" asked Sasuke. Naruto knew he wasn't asking about whether or not he passed. The evidence of that was on his forehead. Rather, Sasuke was asking if Naruto thought he got rookie of the year. Honestly, Naruto didn't really care for the honorary title. He believed that Sasuke probably deserved it more than he did.

"Eh, I think it went alright" replied Naruto. Naruto and Sasuke were among the top students in the class. Naruto was ranked third, and Sasuke was ranked second but very close to the top. "What about you?" asked Naruto.

"I think I got it in the bag!" answered Sasuke with a cheeky grin. Naruto grinned too. Sasuke had always been pretty competitive compared to him. Rookie of the year was just a title, though it probably mattered more for Sasuke than it did for him, as he probably thought that his dad would recognize him more if he at least was able to graduate at the top of his class. Sasuke had said he had given up trying to impress his father, but Naruto knew part of him would always strive to try. Naruto could only imagine how hard it would be living in Itachi's shadow. Itachi was a genius, prodigy, and a fun guy to boot. A hard person to hate.

"C'mon Naruto, lets get going!" yelled Kushina, practically dragging Naruto away. Naruto smiled. His mom was always like this. She was super hyper, and had too much energy, even if she was gaining her age. Naruto waved to Sasuke and Mikoto before he spun around and tried to get his mom to let go of him.

Ninja don't tend to celebrate birthday parties too much. There was simply too much going on to worry about getting older, and thus birthdays were usually glanced over for all but small children. Instead, rank promotions were considered the coming of age and advancing through life. And Naruto had just become a Genin, so he was finally considered an adult in the eyes of the village. And Kushina had a party planned for him.

Naruto arrived at the estate find Kakashi there already. "Congratulations Naruto!" said Kakashi, his eyes smiling through his mask. He had been there early, waiting for Naruto to arrive.

"Thanks Kakashi-nii!" answered Naruto. Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair before sitting down on the couch. He pulled out his usual orange book and hid behind its pages. Naruto felt a powerful presence flair up behind him and instantly ducked as a frying pan went flying over him and towards Kakashi. Kakashi simply leaned to the side as the frying pan smashed a crater in the wall behind him.

"Don't you dare take that crap near my son! I thought I made that very clear to you Kakashi!" yelled Kushina referencing the orange book.

"Eh? He's an adult now right? Shouldn't matter, its not like he's reading it. Besides, its going to take another hour or so for Obito to get here, so whats the rush." answered Kakashi with a bored expression.

Naruto sighed as he watched the exchange continue between his mom and Kakashi. Kakashi of course kept a calm voice as he weaseled his way through the argument, while his mom was just yelling at him. Naruto briefly wondered how he would have turned out if he was as hyperactive as his mother. He probably wouldn't have even passed through the academy because he would have pulled too many pranks or something.

_Ding-Dong_!

Naruto perked up and ran towards the door. Once he got to the handle, he threw it open. His eyes widened and he grinned when he saw his father, Minato Namikaze. He had his signature white cloak with flames on it under his arm, was was currently just wearing the standard jonin uniform.

"Dad!" said Naruto with glee as he greeted his dad.

"Hey Naruto! How have you been! Sorry I'm late… is Obito here yet?" replied Minato. He asked just as customary thing, but everyone knew Obito was going to be late. He was always late.

Naruto laughed and dragged his father to living room. Everyone waited for Obito and Rin to show up. An hour later, there was another ring at the door. It was Obito and Rin.

"You're late!" yelled Kushina.

"No, he's definitely getting better. He was only an hour later rather than three hours. Looks like Rin is making progress on him" said Minato cheekily.

Obito scratched the back of his head. Rin was still scolding him for not hurrying up earlier. Thinking quickly Obito pulled out a box, "Hey, hey… I brought a present you know!"

Naruto chuckled at Obito's feeble attempt at switching the topic at hand. He let it slide though as everyone slowly pulled out their gifts and handed them to him. Naruto smiled as he sat down. He grabbed Obito's first and tore open the small box. Inside he found a pair of goggles that looked just like Obito's, except they were tinted a light blue to match his eyes. Naruto thanked Obito. He thought they were pretty cool.

Rin handed him a box which contained a small amateur medical kit. Naruto thanked her for the useful gift. There was no doubt that this would come in handy some time eventually. Next up was Kakashi. Kakashi handed him a box, which Naruto opened. He found a mask inside, that was exactly Kakashi's. Naruto laughed and Kakashi gave him a thumbs up. Seconds later the mask was snatched away.

"There is no way you're giving Naruto this!" yelled Kushina. Naruto chuckled, it wasn't like he was going to keep it on twenty-four seven. It didn't matter though because Kushina tore the thing to shreds. Kakashi sighed and handed him another box. Naruto guessed that this was the real thing.

Naruto opened it up and found a pair of Anbu issue forearm bracers for kenjutsu and swordplay. Naruto loved the gift, but asked Kakashi why he gave him that particular gift.

"I think you might need it for your next present…" answered Kakashi cryptically. Kushina looked a little ticked that he gave away what her gift was going to be.

Kushina went into the closet and pulled out a long box and handed it to Naruto. Naruto pulled off the lid and found a katana inside. Naruto's eyes lit up. The sheathe was black and had a swirling dragon going up to the cross guard. The cross guard and the hilt were plain, but there was a charm attached to the end of the handle. It was the signature Uzumaki spiral. That signified that this was a blade from the land of Whirlpools.

Naruto looked up to his mom, "This is way cool! How did you get this?"

"I made it!" replied Kushina with a cheeky smile. "There are only two of those. I have one, and now you do too. The steel work of the Whirlpool was legendary, and I inherited the secret scroll before my village was destroyed. So you better take good care of that! But you didn't even draw the blade yet!"

Naruto undid the charm that held the sheathe to the cross guard. He parted the blade and the sheathe slightly showing the steel work. It looked like a normal blade. Of course it was excellent quality, but there was nothing that would make the sword legendary. Naruto pulled two foot katana fully out and then saw that something was slightly off.

The cutting edge was on the wrong side.

The striking edge, that was normally used to block was on the side of the blade that was curved at the tip. The other side, that was flat all the way, was razor sharp. The sword had a reversed blade.

"The sword reflects the Uzumaki belief it is more important to protect than to kill. I hope you keep this in mind for the years to come!"

Fantastic, now Naruto just had to learn how to use it.

Naruto thanked everyone for their gifts. Minato put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Hey wait up, didn't I promise you something a while back?"

Naruto's eyes lit up in glee as he remembered. Minato had told him that he would teach him one of his favorite and most useful techniques from the forbidden scroll, provided he had the chakra capacity, which Naruto knew he did. He had Uzumaki blood in him, meaning he had several times the normal amount of chakra for his age. Minato handed Naruto a small scroll that was labeled the "Shadow Clone Technique" and told him to be careful when practicing it.

Naruto thanked his dad. Minato then excused himself as he had to run to go for a meeting. Naruto sighed and he knew it couldn't be helped. He saw his father off, before heading back to eat with everyone.

Minato sighed as he walked slowly towards the Hokage's tower. He hated how his work always got in the way. It wasn't too bad most of the time, but he was particularly annoyed today because he missed part of Naruto's graduation party. But he guessed it couldn't be helped, today was the day to pick the Genin squads. And as always, there was going to be a pointless debate over it amongst the council.

Minato arrived and took his seat at the head of the long table. He was greeted by various clan heads and advisors. Soon enough, they got the meeting under way.

"So I think we can at least all agree on placing the three Genin, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino on a team? They're fathers are close friends and I believe the three's specialties complement each other perfectly" started Minato.

"Agreed, but what of their sensei?" replied a council member.

"Hm… how about Asuma?"

"I think that will work."

"Ah yes, I believe he would make a good sensei."

"Okay then that's settled" said Minato, closing the discussion early before someone could argue for the sake of arguing. Some members of the council had a habit of simply opposing everything that everyone agreed on. It made for long evenings that ended with the majority winning anyways. "Now, with that aside, lets look at the other team options."

"Yes, normally I would recommend putting the two highest scoring candidates together with the lowest, but all Genin scored well this time around, so such a configuration wouldn't make too much sense."

"Ah, so who is our rookie of the year this time?"

"It seems to be the Hyuga Heiress, Hinata."

Minato saw Hiashi crack a small smiling. He imagined that he would be proud as a father, especially since it was the Hyuga clan he was talking about, who had as much pride as the Uchiha. Minato sighed though, at this rate they were going to get nowhere fast. Maybe he should just start throwing around suggestions, "How about we put Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura on a team, and then make the other one Hinata, Kiba, and Shino?"

"Sounds like a logical configuration."

"Really? I think it's a waste!"

_Poof!_

Minato turned to the noise of someone teleporting in with a small puff of smoke. It was an Anbu operative. "Sir, we found that the forbidden scroll has been stolen. How should we respond?"

Minato rubbed his temples, he didn't want to deal with this right now, "Just get Crow on it. He'll take care of it." The Anbu nodded and proofed away again. Minato motioned for them to continue their conversation.

"How so?"

"Well, the Hyuga girl has great potential that is wasted in a recon type squad. Plus her nobility must be put into consideration also."

Minato noticed Hiashi stayed silent throughout the discussion of his daughter. Fugaku, head of the Uchiha clan was also staying silent for the moment. Suddenly, Minato had a rather interesting idea, "What if we put Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyuga on the same team?"

Minato almost burst out laughing as Hiashi and Fugaku both froze. The two clans were known to be rivals. If they were put into the same team, there was sure to be some tension, if not competition. But Minato knew Sasuke, and he thought the boy would probably take it in stride.

"The two highest scorers on the same team? A Hyuga and a Uchiha, that would be interesting. We would be almost like Konoha's golden team."

"Yeah, but who would be their third member? Kiba Inuzuka?"

"That seems alright… but maybe we should consider the Hokage's son?"

Now it was Minato's turn to perk his ears up. He didn't mind Naruto being put on this team, but he didn't expect someone else to bring it up. Hiashi and Fugaku both looked at Minato, before they smirked together.

"I believe that would be beneficial!" said Fugaku.

"Sounds acceptable" commented Hiashi.

"The three highest scorers on the same team? I guess it is alright since they're abilities do mesh rather well. They could form a specialized first response team. It also makes the other team work out well enough also. Okay, so who should be their sensei?"

_Poof!_

Minato turned and found an Anbu operative, this time with a crow mask. He had a beat up Chuunin in tow, who was most likely the traitor that was stupid enough to steal the scroll. The man was out cold.

"Ah, Crow. I wouldn't suppose you would think about taking on a team would you?" Minato asked.

"Hokage! I don't believe that is a wise idea!" popped up a voice from Minato's left side. Minato sighed. Most people already knew Crow's identity. He was an elite Anbu captain, and had been from a young age. He was a prodigy, but he had a kind heart. Minato smiled and waved Crow away. The masked Anbu proofed away. Itachi would have made a great sensei in his mind.

"How about the son of the white fang? Your student Kakashi?"

"Kakashi?" Minato thought for a second. Kakashi would make an alright mentor. He would help the students grow, though he would have to learn in the process. It wasn't a bad decision. "That sounds good. Kakashi has my vote of confidence."

"So you're going to pull him off of active duty then?"

"Yes, Kakashi shall lead Team 7" finalized Minato.

"Are you sure Hokage? He has never taught a team before?"

Minato sighed. The team would actually mostly be self taught, since the Hyuga practiced their own techniques as well as the Uchiha. Naruto would actually be the only one under tutelage. "It is alright. I taught Kakashi myself, and although he may have never trained a team before, he knows the true value of team work!"

And with that, Team 7 was formed. A Hyuga, a Uchiha, and a Namikaze led by the Son of the White Fang.


	2. Chapter 2

_And with that, Team 7 was formed. A Hyuga, a Uchiha, and a Namikaze led by the Son of the White Fang._

**Chapter 2: Prodigies of the Future**

Naruto sat up straight in his seat. Today was the last day he would be here. After this, he could finally leave the academy for good. They were calling out the team rosters at the front of the room. Naruto waited patiently for his name. Then finally, it came.

"…and Team 7 will be Naruto Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha-"

Naruto heard a familiar cheer from behind him. He grinned. He was lucky to have a friend on his team. Now who would be the last person.

"-and Hinata Hyuga. You will be led by Kakashi Hatake."

Naruto froze for a second. The steely cold Hyuga heiress was going to be on their team? It made for a weird configuration. He didn't know too much about Hinata, besides the fact that she was considered a prodigy, and was also one of the least sociable people he had ever seen. Still, it was pretty cool. A Uchiha and a Hyuga on the same team as the Hokage's son. His fater was on good terms with both Hiashi and Fugaku, so Naruto guessed that he was the glue that was supposed to hold the team together.

"And that's it. You are free for an hour and half to have lunch before your Jonin sensei arrive."

Naruto got up and made his way down the steps towards where Hinata was sitting. Suddenly, a strong force got him into a head lock. Naruto smirked, of course it was the Uchiha.

"Naruto! Let me handle this one!" said Sasuke with a cheeky grin. Naruto rolled his eyes. The average Uchiha was usually about as stuck up as one could be, but Sasuke was more easy-going than most. Perhaps if he didn't have his older brother baring most of the clans burdens it would be different, but Naruto was glad never the less. Sasuke was a fun friend to hand around.

"Hey there princess!" said Sasuke as he approached Hinata.

Hinata gave him a bored look, before ignoring him and starting to walk out of the room. Sensing the situation, Naruto quickly stepped in, "Hey, we were just wondering if you wanted to grab lunch together or something. We are a team right?"

Hinata turned to look back at them. She had an annoyed look on her face as she thought about it for a second before answering, "Fine" and began to walk towards the exit door again. Naruto just stood there for a second, wondering just what happened. Hinata turned around and addressed both him and Sasuke coldly, "Well? Are you coming?"

"Uh, yeah sure" replied Naruto as he started to follow Hinata.

"Dang, she's cold…" murmured Sasuke as he dragged himself to follow the Hyuga heiress.

The three arrived at a small clearing just off of the academy grounds. Hinata sat down and unpacked her lunch, before carefully and eloquently taking a bite. She then stared up at Naruto and Sasuke, as if to ask "Well?"

Naruto looked towards Sasuke, who shrugged and plopped down. Naruto sat down also and took out his sandwich. It was a weird silence as they ate. Naruto wondered if this is really how a team was supposed to function.

The stuffy air was no different outside from inside. It was gloomy and hot. In the shade, it was still rather annoying to be outside, but it was better than the noisy uproar that was taking place inside. The heat, however, made the silence all the more awkward.

Naruto looked towards Hinata, whose brow was twitching for some reason. She seemed to be irked at something also. Sasuke just munched his rice ball unceremoniously like he always did when he was eating lunch with Naruto.

"Make sure you two don't get in my way!" said Hinata as she packed up her things. She had finished eating very quickly and obviously wanted to get away from her to be team mates.

"What!?" replied Sasuke. No one liked being looked down upon.

"Especially you Uchiha. We may be team mates, but we're from rival clans. Don't expect any sympathy from me."

Naruto stayed silent for the moment. The Hyuga were infatuated with their blood superiority. It became worse after the kidnap attempts to obtain their doujutsu by the Cloud. Still, even amongst Hyuga, Hinata was strangely uptight. Maybe she would loosen up over time.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when you're left for dead. You won't go anywhere if you treat your comrades like enemies" said Sasuke, thoroughly ticked by Hinata's words.

And with that, Hinata left and headed back to the class room.

Naruto sighed and mentioned to Sasuke that they should be heading back too. Thus the two made their way to meet up with their sensei. Naruto knew Kakashi, but wondered if he was really capable of teaching them. The only thing that the guy really did was beat him into a pulp whenever they trained. Of course that was learning of its own kind, but still.

Naruto and Sasuke made it just as the clock hit the designated hour. There was poof of smoke and standing before them was Kakashi Hatake. He quickly took a glance around, and then said, "Team 7, on the roof" before poofing away again. Naruto hated it when he did that.

The team walked up the stairs in silence. Naruto wasn't sure if it was from anticipation, or from a lack of team cohesiveness, but it didn't really matter for the moment. Naruto knew that Kakashi was always irritated at those who were late. He held to promptness, and if his team took their sweet time getting there, Naruto was sure there was going to be a punishment waiting for them.

Naruto opened up the door on the roof and found Kakashi waiting there, reading his book. He glanced up and saw them, and put the book back into his pouch. He motioned the Genin over, and they went and took a seat on the small decorative steps.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake and I might be your Jonin instructor-"

"Might? What do you mean might?" interrupted Sasuke.

"No matter, more on that in a minute. First, lets get introductions out of the way. I am Kakashi Hatake. I have never taught a team before, so this will be a learning experience for all of us. I like reading books and I don't like those who always ignore the rules. My plans for the future… I dunno, never gave it much thought. Next up… you goldie!"

Naruto twitched at Kakashi's nametag. He already knew his name so why not call him by it. Naruto decided it was best to play along. Kakashi probably didn't want to play favorites or something. "My name is Naruto Namikaze. I like eating ramen, training, and hanging out with people I like. I don't like people who are cold and act like a stick in the mud, and my goal is to become a great ninja." Simple enough.

"Alright, next up is the chicke-" Kakashi was cut off by a glare from Sasuke. It was probably a sore subject, "-erm, the Uchiha kid…"

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like tomatoes and training, as well as hanging out with my friends and my brother. I dislike sweet foods most of the time, and those who look down on others. My goal is to lead the Konoha Military Police Force someday, while my brother heads the clan."

"Fair enough. Now… you!" finished Kakashi, not quite sure what to say to the prideful Hyuga.

"My name is Hinata Hyuga. I like training and… pressing flowers. I dislike worthless things. My goal is to lead the Hyuga clan back to greatness."

"Okay then that takes care of introductions. Now, about your final test. Meet up at the third training field tomorrow at 7 am sharp. I'll explain the rest there. Don't be late!" and with a poof of smoke, he was off.

Hinata quickly stalked off back to her clan compound. Naruto began heading towards his place, which was in the same direction as the Uchiha compound. Naruto tilted his head towards Sasuke, "So? What do you think?"

"Eh, Kakashi seems like a cool sensei. I don't know what he meant about the test tomorrow, but I guess we'll find out. That Hyuga girl though, something is up with her."

"Yeah, I think so too. I know that clan heirs are usually driven but that's a bit overboard."

"Speaking of heirs…" said Sasuke as he looked ahead towards the fork in the road, "There's aniki!"

Itachi looked up as he heard Sasuke's voice. Itachi smiled and waved at the two. Sasuke laughed and ran over towards his brother. Itachi stopped him with a finger to the forehead.

"Oh c'mon, how do you always get me with that one!"

"You still have a ways to go little brother. Ah, Naruto. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. I'm actually on Sasuke's team now!"

"Is that so? I think you two will be great teammates."

Naruto thought Itachi was a great friend, and their weren't many people who didn't think he was. He was a prodigy and the heir to the Uchiha clan, yet he still maintained a down to earth perspective. He liked to joke and have fun. He was a kindhearted soul. And yet he was one of the most feared Anbu Captains in Konoha's history, and enemy ninja trembled in his wake. He was known only by rumors, as whomever saw him, almost certainly died.

"Hey, Itachi! You were going to teach me how to use sharingan guided weapons today right? You said next time you were free!"

"Sasuke… I'm sorry, I can't. I'm very tired. I've been running back to back missions because of the rising border tensions after the last war. Maybe some other time."

"You always do that! C'mon pl…"

Sasuke's voice trailed off as the two walked away towards the Uchiha compound. It had been a long day, and it was hard to believe it was almost evening. Even without the sun it stayed warm and the air stayed thick. Naruto dragged himself back home so he could get to bed early. Tomorrow was a big day. But today wasn't done yet. He still had to practice that one technique his dad had gotten him. He almost had the shadow clone down.

The next day, Naruto got himself up early despite his aching joints. He quickly threw on a black shirt and a pair of black cloth pants. He then buckled on a belt that held a pouch, standard for all ninjas, containing some basic medical supplies, kunai, and some wire. Naruto then taped a shuriken holster in a comfortable position on his leg and put on the armguards Kakashi got him. Lastly, Naruto strapped his sword onto his back, and was ready to go.

When Naruto got to the training field, he found that Sasuke and Hinata were also just arriving. They were all five minutes early. Naruto stretched lightly, before pulling out a kunai and fiddling around with it. As soon as the clock struck seven o'clock, there was a small puff of smoke and Kakashi stood before them. "All right! Good to see you all here! Ready to get started?" asked Kakashi cheerily.

The three genin nodded curtly. Kakashi simply pulled out a pair of bells, "Alright, so its pretty simple. The two of you who get one of these bells will pass the test. The one that doesn't goes back to the academy. If no one gets the bells, then you all go back. You have from now until sundown. Any questions?" finished Kakashi with a smiling face.

Naruto certainly had many questions. At least one genin was going to be sent back? What was the point of a three man cell then? Maybe the genin would be narrowed down and then rearranged? There were too many factors and variables in this equation. Naruto stared at Kakashi, as did his two teammates. No one was going to ask a question. Kakashi smirked.

"Well then. The test begins in three, two, one… go!" and with that, the genin quickly vanished all together. "Well… this will be interesting. Guess I'll just have to hunt them one by one. Really do hope they pass though…" commented Kakashi as he pulled out his orange book to allow the genin a little head start. He had to give them a chance after all.

Naruto flattened himself against the tree he was leaning against. The sun was overhead and was casting shadows in forest. Naruto was currently hidden from sight a little bit away from Kakashi. Naruto steadied his breathe carefully. Naruto brushed away a mosquito that tried to land on his arm. The plant life was annoying, especially in the thick warm arm. But right now, they were his greatest allies. He could be found unless he was seen from behind. He was pretty sure Kakashi knew he was here anyways, but he had to stay hidden. There were two bells, meaning he had to not only fight against Kakshi, but against Sasuke and Hinata as well. It was a tactic used to split up their team, but Kakashi had said that one of them were guaranteed to get sent back to the academy. Naruto pulled out a kunai and gripped it tightly. He had to think carefully before moving. Maybe he could set a trap and then…

"Naruto!"

"Wah!"

Naruto jumped a little at Sasuke's voice. He turned and found that it was indeed Sasuke. Naruto turned back around to check if Kakashi was still there, and he was. He was just sitting around idly. Naruto narrowed his eyes. It might be a trap. He carefully pointed his kunai towards Sasuke.

"How do I know you're really Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Hm? I don't know… Lets see… Oh yeah! Remember that time that we tried to spar with Itachi? We got our butts whooped. I ended up with a bloody nose while you were hanging upside down by a tree branch…"

Naruto lowered his kunai. That was definitely Sasuke. Naruto could guess what was on his mind, "So you want to work together?"

"Yeah! There are two bells and two of us. If we work together, we might be able to beat Kakashi."

Naruto frowned. I was pretty sure they had little chance of winning. "Sasuke, I know Kakashi a bit from my dad, and I've spared with him. There is no way we can win. We'll end up like we did with Itachi. We might be able to get those bells though. I think I have a plan…"

Naruto and Sasuke formulated a strategy for getting the bells from Kakashi. This was going to be an interesting little match.

Kakashi sighed as we waited out in the open. He didn't know if these genin were going to pass, but he certainly hoped they did. They were a promising bunch. Kakashi heard footsteps and sensed Naruto's presence in front of him. He came out alone? He probably wanted to test the waters. Kakashi put away his orange book into his back pouch. Although it was just Naruto, one could never be too careful. He might have some new moves.

"So, Naruto. I'm going to have to make an example out of you?" asked Kakashi lazily.

Naruto wordlessly brought up his hands to make the ram seal. There was a puff of smoke, and when it cleared, there were four Naruto's inside of the original one. Kakashi was impressed. The Naruto's drew their swords. Kakashi pulled out his own chakra saber.

The white fang chakra saber, which he inherited from his father, was a short sword. In actuality, it was the size of a dagger. The blade was only a foot long, and there was nothing ornamental about it. It was just a plane knife to the eye. However, when chakra was channeled into the blade, it glowed an eerie white color.

The Naruto clones charged. The first one went for a horizontal slash. Kakashi easily parried it sideways and took a step back. Second later, the second Naruto jumped over the first one and went for an overhead strike. Kakashi stepped sideways and destroyed the clone in one swipe. The first clone the tried to follow with a slash in a rising arc. Kakashi did a corner spin and stabbed the clone in the neck. It vanished in a puff of smoke. Two down two to go. The third clone came running straight at Kakashi. Kakashi simply took a strike at it. The clone didn't even try to defend, but the blade passed right through it.

'_Ah, a regular clone. He made one in the smoke caused by the shadow clone.'_

Kakashi jumped upwards to avoid the real Naruto running behind the clone. Naruto smirked. The plan was progressing along. Sasuke jumped out of the nearby trees and made the last hand seal in his set. Kakashi's eyes widened for a second. The two were working together? More importantly, that jutsu…

"Great Fireball!" yelled Sasuke as he launched the fireball at the airborne Kakashi. The technique was a right of passage for the Uchiha, and he had spent countless hours perfecting it.

Kakashi quickly made his handseals and formed the fire dragon to counter Sasuke's fireball. The dragon and the fireball clashed, radiating flames and causing crackles from the air combusting around the inferno. The dragon won out, however, and pushed the fireball straight back at Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes widened this time as he quickly jumped out of the way.

Kakashi landed and regained his balanced. That's when he noticed that Naruto was not with Sasuke, rather, he was charging straight at him again. Kakashi quickly got ready to counter. Naruto landed in front of him and stopped unexpectedly, dropping for a sweep kick. Kakashi hoped to avoid it. Naruto then lashed out with a sword strike while Kakashi didn't have his balance. Unfortunately for him though, Kakashi didn't need balance.

Kakashi instantly drew a kunai and used it in conjunction with his saber to catch Naruto's strike. He formed an x with the kunai and saber and clamped down on Naruto's katana. Kakashi then kicked Naruto away while twisting the katana. Naruto dodged the kick, but had to let go of the katana, which was flicked away three meters. Naruto smirked. That's when Kakashi felt something was off.

Kakashi whipped around to divert a strike from Hinata that would have disabled his arm. Naruto quickly bounced back and grabbed the bells and leapt away. Kakashi stopped his fight with Hinata and smiled.

"So you three worked together to get the bells?"

"Erm… Well, Sasuke and I did anyways" answered Naruto truthfully. "I predicted that Hinata would strike when she though the opportunity arose."

Hinata frowned and looked pissed off at being used as part of a plan. Kakashi was intrigued, so what would Naruto do. "So Naruto, what will you do with the bells then?"

Naruto thought carefully for a second. He tossed one for Sasuke, and then tossed the other one to Hinata.

"Naruto! What are you doing!? We earned the bells, you don't need to give one to her!" said Sasuke, surprised at Naruto's decision.

"Yeah, but I can't just take the bell and advance. We're supposed to be a team. And you two have more riding on this than I do. Besides my dad's hokage, so there is a chance I can just get promoted and put onto another team. Or maybe run solo missions or something" said Naruto. Truth was, he didn't want to leave someone behind just for the simple fact she didn't know them before-hand. "Besides, she'll owe me one!"

Hinata grit her teeth. She hated this. If only she had attacked sooner. But there was no way that she could fail this. Even if she had to take away Naruto's win, so be it.

"Are you sure Naruto?" questioned Kakashi.

"Yeah."

"Well then. You three pass! Congratulations, all of you!"

"What!?" exclaimed all three of the genin. Kakashi laughed at the expressions of the three ninja.

"It was a test to see if you could overcome the goal and whatever happened afterwards to work as a team. And you guys passed because of Naruto. You three can work as a cohesive unit. Ninja need to be ready to think about the greater picture. And to do that, you have to put the team about yourself. You have to learn to look past the rules and at the hidden meaning. My sensei once told me, shinobi that disobey the rules are trash, but those that leave their friends behind are worse than trash!"

Sasuke cheered and high fived Naruto. Naruto grinned. Hinata still had a scowl on her face, but it was somewhat lighter than usual.

"From now on, we will be officially known as Team 7. Report back here tomorrow for missions. That is all! Later!" finished up Kakashi as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

The three genin then parted ways and headed to the respective homes.

Naruto walked slowly back home. Although it was nearing evening already, it was still warm. July was coming soon. The hazy overcast was beginning to lighten, and the air was beginning to thin. It was nice in the evening. Naruto stopped as he spotted someone lying on the ground under a tree. He recognized the spiky pineapple shaped hair.

"Hey! Shikamaru!"

"Hm? Oh, hey Naruto" was Shikamaru's lazy reply. Shikamaru was the definition of lazy, but he was a genius. Naruto found him interesting, as he was someone who could do almost anything, but he decided to spend his time staring at clouds. He wasn't exactly down to earth in that regard, but he was still a cool guy.

"How's your team Shikamaru?"

"Choji's as he has always been, but Ino is troublesome. So loud. And she hates me relaxing. What about you?"

"Almost the same problem. Sasuke's the same, but Hinata is like a stick in the mud."

After that, it was silent. Normally it would an awkward silence, but in this situation it seemed fitting. It reminded Naruto of the academy days when he sat by the window so he could stare outside instead of listening to Iruka's lecture. The clouds drifted by slowly but steadily. Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. He wondered what was to become of team seven. But they were all like clouds. Clouds didn't move themselves; they were carried by winds of change.


	3. Chapter 3

"_But they were all like clouds. Clouds didn't move themselves; they were carried by winds of change."_

**Chapter 3: Secrets of the Namikaze**

"This is Pinwheel, I am in position. Over."

"I read you Pinwheel. What is your ETA Sunshine?"

"Approaching designated target in three seconds."

"On track, what about you Princess?"

"I'm at my designated location. Why is my code name Princess again?"

"We drew lots to pick and Pinwheel won…"

"Sunshine and Princess, move on the target. Pinwheel, you cover the rear. Orange Boy, over and out."

Naruto sighed as he dropped from the tree he was hiding in. Kakashi had given them the radio communicators with headsets to get used to during field operations, but this was ridiculous. They were trying to catch a cat for heavens sake. The cat jumped when Naruto fell right in front of it. It turned around and sprinted, but only made it ten feet before it ran into Hinata.

Hinata showed no mercy.

The cat was quickly disabled with several quick strikes to its chakra points. Sasuke smirked as he came out of his hiding spot. "Well, that's one way to catch a cat… At least this way it won't scratch your face off."

Hinata glared it him, still annoyed that he picked the ridiculous nicknames for all of them. Next time they were on operations, she was going to pick the code names, weather they liked it or not.

Kakashi jumped down from his tree as well. "Good work team. We're getting used to these missions. Now to report back to the hokage" said Kakashi as he lifted up the frozen cat. Naruto and the other two followed along. Naruto was getting bored of the D rank missions, as it seemed like all they did was menial labor meant for any grade schooler who was looking for some extra cash. Naruto had to admit though, chasing Tora the cat was one of the more exciting missions they did. And he didn't really blame the cat for running away so much, he would too if he had to deal with the fire daimyo's wife.

As Team 7 made they're way to the hokage tower, Naruto took a minute to look around. It had only been a while since they had graduated the academy, but things had change significantly. He had a team now. The weather had transitioned to the sunny days characteristic of July. Unfortunately, this made the manual labor only that much more annoying. Naruto didn't mind the sunny days, and much preferred them over the gloomy June weather, but he would have liked to spend the day sleeping late and relaxing. Maybe Shikamaru was getting to him.

Soon enough, Team 7 was at the door which led to the Hokage's room. Kakashi motioned for Hinata to unseal the cat's chakra points so the old lady wouldn't freak out. Hinata regrettably complied, making sure to keep the cat at a distance and careful hold it so it wouldn't scratch her face up. Kakashi then opened up the door, to find the fire daimyo's wife directly in front of him.

"Uhh… hello?"

"Tora!" yelled the lady, snatching away her cat. The lady embraced it with no mercy, and the cat struggled, fearing it would die for sure this time. Any human with emotions would feel pity for the animal. The lady ran off, talking to herself about this and that.

"Wait! Ah… well at least she paid before hand…" grumbled Minato, "Your cut will be routed to your respective accounts. Good work. Now lets see here…" Minato shifted through a large stack of papers, before pulling one out and raising his brow. "Him… interesting…"

"What is it sensei?" asked Kakashi.

"The council wants to put your team to the test early since they have high hopes. You are being assigned a C-rank mission. Your job is escort a bridge builder back to the land of waves. Do you think your team is ready for this Kakashi?"

"I believe so" replied Kakashi, much to the team's glee.

"Well then. You guys set you tomorrow morning, at eight o'clock. The bridge builder will meet you there. And Kakashi, be especially careful while you are outside the village right now. With the recent tension, things could develop quite fast."

"Understood sensei. See you later!" answered Kakashi before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto frowned.

"Hey dad, can you teach me that jutsu?" asked Naruto.

"Hm? Uh, actually I can't. Genin aren't allowed to learn it, only Chunin and above. Its always been that way actually, though I don't particularly know why… Maybe it's a cycle because every ninja has to suffer with their annoying sensei's disappearing on them like that" Minato replied chuckling to himself. "Anyways, you three have the rest of the day off to get ready for tomorrow!"

Team 7 left the tower and parted ways outside. They all had things to take care of before setting out tomorrow. It was their first real mission after all.

Naruto went on a quick shopping trip to refill all his supplies. It ended up taking a while, as he spent time looking through many of the books in the book store about kenjutsu and team tactics. None of them were particularly good, so he didn't buy any of them. The sky begin to darken, and Naruto decided it was time to head home.

The evening air was quite a bit cooler than the day. It made for a nice contrast. Naruto noticed that firefly's were beginning to lazily fly around. Naruto remembered when he had spent a good amount of time running behind them with a jar.

Before he knew it, Naruto was home again. His mom greeted him like usual, and began to get things out for dinner. His dad would be back soon too. Naruto told his mom about his upcoming trip, and she was happy for him, but she quickly began to pester him about not forgetting this or that. Naruto deflected most of her questions, and started to get everything ready for the coming morning.

After that, it was time to eat. Minato had just gotten back and had sat down on the table next to Kushina. Naruto quickly made his way over and took his seat on the other side next to his dad.

"Hey Naruto! How was your day?" asked Minato with a smile.

"Not too bad. Though it did take a bit to catch that cat…" answered Naruto.

Minato chuckled, "Well, that's Tora for you! Did you tell your mom about your mission?"

"Yeah I did!" replied Naruto, looking towards his mom.

"Its nothing too bad. Just remember to be careful Naruto, you never know what could happen during missions outside the village. I'm sure Kakashi will take care of you guys though!" commented Kushina.

Minato was almost done eating when he glanced over to Naruto, "Hey Naruto, I want to show you something I worked out today."

"Alright" replied Naruto, quickly finishing up his dinner before picking up the plates and putting them in the sink. Naruto then followed his dad out into the back yard. Kushina tagged along from behind, wondering just what her husband was doing.

"So, I had a clone working on paper work like usual after I got bored of doing it, and I've been working on this secret project. But before that, I need to check something" said Minato as he reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a card that was blank. "Do you know what this is Naruto?"

"It looks like a chakra affinity card to test what element your aligned to."

"Good. So, have you ever tried one of these before?"

"Uh, not yet. I never really focused on elemental jutsu and I've been putting it off."

Minato smirked as he handed him the card, "Well, give it a go then!"

Naruto grabbed the card in silent anticipation. It seemed that his dad was testing him for something, but for what. Naruto drew a breathe and then channeled his chakra into the card. Immediately… nothing happened.

Nothing happened.

"Uh… dad?"

"Interesting... That test shows that your chakra has not aligned with an element yet. It means it will be equally difficult to use any kind of element. Believe it or not, I'm the same way. At first, my teachers told me to give it time. But everyone else's chakra quickly aligned itself to an element. I knew something was up. So I tried to figure it out, but to no avail. Until today…" finished Minato with a grin as he pulled out a second card, which was slightly grey colored. He handed it to Naruto.

Naruto was slightly confused, but took the card. It was blank on one side, just like the card that was supposed to check his chakra affinity. Naruto channeled his chakra into it. Naruto wasn't expecting much, but something strange happened. The card's surface became like glass, and ripples ran across it for a couple seconds, before it returned to normal.

"Yes!" yelled out Minato, pumping his fist.

"What?" asked Naruto, not understanding the point of the test.

"Naruto. I think the Namikaze clan actually has a bloodline limit. Our chakra doesn't have an elemental affinity, like most. But it seems to be some other kind. For example, my Flying Thundergod Jutsu, Hirashin. Do you know why no one else uses it?"

"…because you didn't teach it to anyone else?" asked Naruto. That had been what he had thought. That is what everyone thought.

"No, I actually tried to teach it to Jiraya-sensei, but he couldn't do it. No matter how much chakra he channeled into the seal, it simply didn't activate. I believe that the Namikaze bloodline has an affinity to space time jutsu. And with that premise, I have been trying to draw this chakra…"

Minato held his hand in front of him, and quickly formed the Rasengan. Naruto knew of the technique, though his dad hadn't taught him it yet. He also knew that his dad had been working on a way to complete it for some time now.

Minato closed his eyes and drew a deep breathe and concentrated. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then, a black streak formed on one of the tendrils of chakra spinning in the Rasengan. Then it disappeared, as quickly as it came. Minato opened his eyes and let the Rasengan dissipate.

"Its far from perfect, but I've finally cracked the code!" said Minato with a large grin, "And once I finish it, I'll teach it to you. I was an orphan growing up, and I never had anything to call my own in my lineage. But now…" Minato turned to Naruto, "I found out we actually had a bloodline this whole time. I wonder if our ancestors knew of this…"

Naruto pondered for a second. It was a lot to take in. They had a bloodline type of chakra, but they didn't know how to draw on it yet.

"Well, anyways Naruto. Why don't you try to work on the incomplete Rasengan for now. I'll let you know more about this affinity stuff as I find more out. And I'll eventually pass on my techniques to you!" laughed Minato.

Naruto nodded. He would work on the Rasengan by himself for now, but he looked forward to the day where his dad could teach him. And now he had a legacy to carry. The legacy of the Namikaze. Naruto briefly wondered what other secrets his ancestor's held.

Kushina looked upon them from a bit away with a gentle smile on her face.

The next day, Naruto woke up early, got all of his things together, and headed out to the gates of Konoha. It was a cool morning, but Naruto knew that it would quickly heat up to the summer weather. Naruto arrived right on time as Kakashi poofed in. Team 7 was all there, along with a fifth person, who Naruto assumed was the man they were supposed to escort.

The man's name was Tazuna, a bridge builder, who was to be escorted to land of waves. He was rude and boisterous, but Team 7 in its entirety mostly ignored whatever he had to say. They wouldn't get into bickering with their client needlessly.

They walked at a steady pace as they set out for the land of waves. The summer weather was nice and comfortable. Soon enough, the sun began to move across the sky, and it began to near sun set. They had been walking for nearly the whole day. Naruto carefully avoided a puddle that was in the way. Wait… a puddle?

Naruto instantly went on high alert, just as chains appeared around Kakashi.

"Kakashi!" yelled Naruto in alarm.

What followed was a bloody mess of Kakashi being torn to shreds. Then three ninja dropped down from the trees around the trio of genin. They were all dressed in black cloaks with masks, though each carried a different weapon, one with a claw gauntlet, another with a long bladed chain, and the last one with a katana. The one with a sword charged at Naruto.

Naruto quickly drew his blade to block the first attack. Sparks flew as the blades clashed. The masked ninja with the katana disengaged quickly and made a quick follow up with a sideways slash. Naruto's eyes widened. There was no way that he could block the blow with the katana. Naruto let go of the sword and pulled out a kunai, barely making it to block the blade from cutting him in half. Naruto take a sharp breathe. The extra range on the sword was usually an advantage, but Naruto didn't know how to fight in close quarters with the longer weapon. In this case it had become a liability. He needed more training. But Kakashi…

Meanwhile, the ninja with a claw gauntlet rushed at Hinata. Hinata's eyes were still wide from their jonin's lack of ability in dodging the blow that had killed him. Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan. She easily dodged the first swipe by ducking the blow. She quickly and efficiently sealed off three chakra points in a second. The masked ninja stumbled. Hinata grabbed his shoulder, jumped, pivoted around using her hand, and landed behind the enemy ninja. Hinata smirked as she easily sealed off another six chakra points. She drew back her palm and charged it with chakra. This would be the final blow.

"Farewell…" Hinata whispered as she prepared to strike, when something suddenly grabbed her hand.

Sasuke had dived to the side to avoid the chain that had flown towards him. There was no way that Kakashi had been defeated by that last attack. They just had to hold their own for a bit, and he would surely show up, just fine. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke rolled and was on his feet in a second. He brought his hands together in a seal to activate his sharingan. The two tomoe in his eyes were spinning as he gazed upon the flurry of chains that was being hurled at him.

Sasuke rolled under one, before leaping over a second. He bounced off a tree in front of him to dodge the first chain that whipped back. Sasuke then threw a kunai, pinning both chains together in the ground. The masked ninja was shocked, but had no time to recover, as Sasuke drove his fist into the ninja's gut. The ninja wheezed, and then passed out.

Naruto struggled to hold his own with the kunai in his hand against the blade of his opponent, which had a larger torque behind it. Naruto quickly remembered Kakashi's strategy and pulled out a second kunai, locking the ninja's blade. Naruto then took a small step forward. The enemy ninja was in an awkward position now. Naruto headed butted the ninja, causing him to stumble. The ninja tripped over a body behind him, the ninja that Sasuke had just put down.

Naruto leapt onto him and delivered a powerful blow to his temple. The ninja was out cold in a second. Naruto shakily stood up. That had been a crazy fight. He looked around to grasp the situation.

Sasuke and Naruto had put down their foes, and there was ninja crumpled on the ground in front of Hinata. Hinata herself however, was in a strange position. She had her arm drawn back to deal a finishing blow, but Kakashi had stopped her.

"Stop! We need them alive right now!" said Kakashi sternly.

Hinata went wide eyed, before lowering her arms. Naruto let out a breathe, as Kakashi moved to tie up the enemy ninja. Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, there was something strange about him…

"Sasuke! You have the sharingan!?"

"Huh? Uh… yeah… my brother helped me unlock it last year. He told me to never use it during training or anything though until I had fully mastered it. But this was an emergency…" said Sasuke as he deactivated his bloodline limit. His brother had told him to limit its use so he wouldn't become reliant on it. He had unlocked the sharingan while had been tagging along with his brother, while the second tomoe was the result of a lot of training. Itachi had told him that the last level of the sharingan would come with time and experience.

Kakashi quickly tied up the enemy ninja. Then he turned to their client.

"Well, it seems that these guys were after you… Anything to confess?"

Tazuna grimaced, before explaining the situation. He was being hunted by Gato, a crime lord, because he wanted to build the bridge to help the people crawl out of poverty. Kakashi frowned and turned to his team.

"There is a crime lord after this guy, so there is a high possibility of skilled ninja being hired to kill him. This mission has just changed to A-rank. I don't think we should continue you, but you guys are the ones to decide" said Kakashi with a very serious look.

"Of course we're continuing. This is my chance to prove myself. Our team can take this one easily" replied Hinata. Naruto was slightly surprised by the sudden motivation. He guessed even Hinata would be excited by the idea of taking on a high level mission.

"I won't play second seat to a Hyuuga, I'm in!" answered Sasuke. Typical. All eyes turned to Naruto. Every fiber in his body was saying no, to back down and choose to live. But the ninja inside of him had pride. He couldn't back down from this. He wasn't going to leave all the people in the land of waves to die.

"I'm in also" replied Naruto.

"Are you all sure?" asked Kakashi. He knew the true dangers of his mission. But these genin were stubborn, he already knew. So he would protect them with his life. The three nodded. "Alright then. We can strike a bargain Tazuna. When your country gets back on its feet, you will pay back the full amount due to the hidden leaf."

Tazuna nodded dumbly. He thought he was completely finished.

Kakashi quickly turned his head at the sound of rustling. It was one of the ninja that had attacked Team 7. He was waking up, and quickly realized that he was bound by a rope.

"You… tell us who else is after us. Why does Gato want to stop the bridge!" questioned Kakashi menacingly. He already knew this of course, but he needed a reference point for any other answers the captives would give.

'Hehehe… You'll get nothing out of me!" smirked the ninja clad in black. The other two had woken up. Before Kakashi could stop him, the man bit down on something in his mouth, before beginning to shake violently. The two other ninja did the same, and with a couple seconds, they ceased their movement.

"Poison pills in case of failure…" said Kakashi grimly. This Gato character would be dangerous. "We're going to set up camp!" yelled Kakashi over to the genin trio.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly set up tents, while Kakashi got a everything out to cook. They couldn't light a fire, but they still could use boiling water from fire jutsu, as long as they didn't light anything else up. The meal was a silent affair, and soon enough, everyone decided to sleep so they would get a head start the next day. Hinata was assigned first shift for the watch, while the other three went to sleep soundly. Or so they wanted to.

Naruto's body was tired. Very tired. But his mind was awake. What kind of dangers were awaiting them? Was taking this mission really a good idea? Naruto played out scenario after scenario of what would happen, but none of them brought him comfort. In the end, his mind burned out all of its fuel, and succumbed to sleep.


End file.
